It All Comes Down To This
by DigiFreak103
Summary: Final installment of the trilogy. Been two years since Ryo and Rika's wedding, and trouble is brewing, in the real world and the digital world. Friendships and relationships are on the line, for some. Sanity and the will to live for others.
1. And So It Begins

It All Comes Down To This

And So It Begins

DF103: The sequel to LRIFR&R! Long awaited for some, and 'Gosh not another one,' for others. Unlike the two precursors to this fic, this one will have some action. Mm…and more characters…yessiree…

Immature DF103: More characters?

Morbid/dead DF103: You haven't been reading story outlines, have you?

Immature DF103:nods:

Lovesick DF103: Here…:hands Immature the notebook:

Immature DF103:reads it: Oh…Hey! This is like seasons 1 and 2!

DF103: It's going to change somehow. I noticed that while giving a small synopsis to a few friends… - -;; Anyway! A new fic…new plot…same characters plus more (Well, they'll be introduced later in a different chapter)! But for now, I dun own Digimon, Amber, or Ashley…but I do own Richard, Jason, and two people who'll be introduced in this chapter…um…yeah. BTW, yes, I ended the last fic at weird spot once again, but I assure you, this fic will have a complete ending. So, here's the first chapter of the sequel to LRIFR&R…It All Comes Down To This – And So It Begins…

* * *

"Ryo, wake up! It's time!" Rika said, hobbling out of bed, and walking towards the door. 

Renamon's blue eyes opened in the shadows, waking up from the commotion. Ryo stirred and turned to his side, still sleeping. Observing that Ryo wasn't waking up, Renamon was about to get him up before Rika walked over to the bed and shook him vigorously, until he woke up.

"Ryo, IT'S TIME!"

"Wha?" Ryo's eyes were still half-shut, until he realized what Rika had been saying. "Oh my gosh." Ryo stumbled out of bed and changed into some decent clothes.

Renamon smiled to herself and closed her eyes again, retreating into the shadows.

Once Ryo was ready, he led Rika out the door to the van, which Henry let them borrow for such occasion. It was still dark out, as Ryo helped Rika into the passenger side of the van. Ryo closed the door, and ran back into the house to grab a small suitcase. He threw it in to the back of the van and hopped into the driver's seat. After he started the car, he slammed his foot on the accelerator, and drove down the dim-lit road.

- - -

_5:48 am, November 24, 2005 _

_Entry #13_

_Good early morning! Guess where I am again? I'm at the hospital with everyone, after Ryo called us over. He said that it's no false alarm this time. _

Richard looked up from his journal and glanced up at his mother, who was carrying his little brother, Kousuke, or for better known as Kody. They'd been at the hospital for almost an hour. His mom had her eyes closed, humming a comforting tune while Kody was sound asleep, in his mother's arms. Richard looked around and saw Henry and Amber, sitting next to each other, almost half-asleep. Takato and Ashley were the same. Jason sat there with his arms crossed and his head, almost hanging off the chair, sleeping. Jeri and Richard seemed to be the only two, who were aware of what was going on around them, and what was supposed to happen. After his small observation, he went back to writing in his journal.

_Today is a special day. Today marks the day when Rika came back, from the U.S. two years ago. Not exactly, but two years ago also marks the time Ryo proposed to Rika. Without the help of Suzie, Ai, or Mako, this day would be just any other day. Sadly, those three are gone. They were wandering spirits, on a mission, in order to move on. Shortly after Ryo and Rika's wedding, they just disappeared, and none of us have seen them since._

Richard looked up when he heard the expected crying of a baby, not coming from his brother, but coming from behind the closed doors labeled, "Delivery Room." It took a few minutes before the doors slowly opened, revealing Ryo's back. Ryo shushed, softly, as the crying baby, started to settle down. He turned around, as the swinging doors swung back and forth, in and out of the room. Ryo held the baby, wrapped in a pink blanket as Jeri and Richard walked up to him. The baby's cheeks were plump and rosy. She was small, compared to Ryo, as he cradled her in his arms.

"She's so adorable," Jeri whispered.

"I want to see. I want to see," Richard reiterated, quietly jumping up and down. Ryo sat down in a chair, as the baby fell asleep in his arms. "Her name's Mio." He looked down at her and smiled.

Jeri gazed upon Mio's sleeping form. "How's Rika holding up?"

"She's fine. Tired, but fine," Ryo assured. Mio fussed a little before Ryo lightly bounced her up and down to calm her.

From the sound of Mio, everyone, except Jason, came back to alertness. They gasped, seeing Ryo holding the newborn. By this time, everyone was gathered around Ryo.

"Congratulations Ryo," Takato said, looking over his shoulder. He patted Ryo's back, which caused Mio to wake up. She cried, and wailed. "Oops."

Jason slid out of his chair at the ruckus, and fell on the floor. He dazedly looked around, trying to remember where he was, before the crying of the baby reminded him. He looked up at Ryo, and smiled. "Congrats."

Ryo nodded his head, and tried to comfort his daughter. After a few moments of trying, he got up. "I think someone wants her mommy." Ryo winked and walked back towards the door.

"Congrats to both you and Rika, Ryo," Riley said, loud enough for Ryo to hear, but soft enough so that she doesn't wake Kody.

Ryo smiled and walked through the doors. "Guess who wants their mommy."

Rika was sitting back, with sweat running down the side of her face. Pieces of her hair clung to her face. She looked up at Ryo. He bent down and handed her Mio. Rika greeted her new daughter with open arms, holding her close to her. All Rika could do was smile, as Mio started to settle down again.

_Rika had the baby, and Ryo came out with her in his arms. I don't know if it's just me, but I think all babies look the same. They're almost bald, chubby, and…small. It's hard to think that an eight year old like me was that small at one point in time. Then again, it's hard for me to think that anyone was that small, even Jason._

Richard looked up, hiding his face behind the journal, looking at Jason. Jason's eyes were still half shut, a little of his hair, drooping over his eyes, as he nodded his head continuously to Jeri's comments.

_If Jason grew up to be like that, I wonder how his parents were. I wonder if he has any brothers or sisters, who are just as weird as him. I don't know how anyone could stand him. He looks mean, scary and just plain evil._

Richard took another glance at Jason, then to the clock. "6:15" it read. He didn't have to worry about rushing to go to school. He was already packed and ready, with his blue backpack and green lunchbox. Of course, school didn't start for another two hours or so for him, but he couldn't wait for the time to come. Richard enjoyed his third grade class, skipping the second grade for his superior academic achievements. Richard, then, began to think about how Jason did in school.

_How did he do in school? Is he one of those high school dropout people, like Kazu once said before?_

Kazu and Kenta came running in. They took a moment to catch the breath.

"Did we miss the baby?" Kenta asked.

"Sorry, to say, but you did," Amber replied.

Kazu looked disappointed. "The Digimon King's first kid, and we missed it. By the way, is it a boy or a girl?"

"Girl, and they named her Mio. Isn't that a cute name?" Jeri commented excitedly.

"Dude, was Ryo all disappointed and stuff?" Kazu questioned. "You know, because the baby wasn't a guy?"

"I don't think so," Ashley said. "Why? What's wrong with having a baby girl?"

Kazu sat down. "Someone's gotta pass on the family name."

"Yeah, Akiyama can't die out." Kenta crossed his arms.

"Um, news flash, you two. There are a lot of Akiyamas in this country," Henry explained.

"Akiyama, as in related to the Digimon King and Queen." Kenta clarified.

"Oh, come on. Can't you be happy for Ryo and Rika?" Amber asked.

Kazu raised an eyebrow, and sighed. "Alright, alright. In reality, yes, I am happy for them."

"Yeah, what he said," Kenta said, gesturing to Kazu.

Jason smirked. "Besides, when you first heard Rika was pregnant, you didn't care if it was a boy or a girl. You just went hysterical."

"Not true!" Kazu retorted.

_Flash Back_

It was a year after Ryo and Rika came back from their honeymoon. The group gathered at the Akiyama residents to hangout, just as they did when they were teens. This kind of gathering could be seen almost as a family night, except it was with close friends, where everyone managed to take a day off from work and just have a little fun. That one particular night at Ryo and Rika's house was one that the group would never forget.

Ryo, Rika, Jeri, and Henry were occupied in a game of Scrabble, as everyone else helped and assisted them, or watched some kind of sporting event on T.V. Rika was unusually happy throughout part of the game. The game was now half way through; letters and words filled the board.

Henry placed a few letters on the board to spell out 'INDIGNATION.' "Okay, Ryo. It's your turn."

"I know. I'm thinking." Ryo looked at his letters, and glanced at Rika.

"I think she's hiding something from me," Ryo whispered to Takato, looking at Rika's expression. Ryo placed two letters on the board to spell out 'ASSUAGE.'

Takato looked up and saw her smile. "You're right. Maybe she is hiding something."

Jeri noticed Rika in the same state. "Are you okay, Rika?" She put an 'R' on the board to spell 'PAPYRUS.'

"Mm-hmm," Rika said, looking at her letters.

"Are you sure?" Amber made sure.

"Yup, just great." Rika concentrated on the board and her letters. The others just shook their heads and waited for Rika. 'Hmm…here's my chance.' "I'm going to use the rest of my letters."

"Okay…" Henry said, wondering what word she'd spell.

Rika took all her letters and arranged them so it would spell the word she wanted. Going down vertically, it went P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T.

Everyone who stood there, stood very still, comprehending the word Rika managed to spell out. Kazu, Kenta, and Jason walked over to see why there was such an awkward silence.

"Pregnant?" Ryo looked at Rika. Rika grinned. Ryo's face illumined. "You're pregnant!"

"Yes!" Rika exclaimed with joy. Ryo got up, picked her up and spun her around. He put her down and gave her a kiss.

"Oh my gosh, Rika! Congratulations!" Jeri squealed.

"Wow, a Digimon Prince or Princess on the way, hmm?" Alice said.

"I wanted to tell you all so badly, but I wanted to wait until everyone was together," Rika explained, making eye contact with Ryo for half the time.

"Dude! You're gonna be a dad!" Kazu yelled out, putting a hand on each of Ryo's shoulders. "I'm happy for ya!" Kazu wrapped his arms around Ryo and hugged him.

_End Flash Back_

Kazu stood there silently. The rest of the group laughed, remembering Kazu's priceless act.

"Point made," Takato noted, repressing his laugh.

"Whatever," Kazu said, looking out the window, avoiding all eye contact.

Renamon's face appeared on the other side of the window, startling Kazu. The piercing blue eyes, examined the room, making eye contact with everyone there and checking to see if there were other people there. Renamon disappeared from the window and materialized in the corner of the area.

"It's a baby girl, Renamon," Ashley informed.

Renamon didn't know how to react. "A little version of Rika to protect?"

"I guess you could put it that way," Alice answered. "But, if you think about it, there is really nothing to protect her from since nothing has happened for thirteen years now."

"It's been thirteen years since the D-Reaper attack?" Kenta asked.

"That's a long time," Jeri said. "And we didn't even bother to think about the 10 years, three years ago."

"We know. Do you think we should do something?" Takato asked.

"Maybe we could all go to the Digital World after Rika is out of here," Henry suggested.

"Cool, so we get to see the long-talked about Digital World, once again, huh?" Amber commented.

"Indeed, you can." Henry said.

"I bet all the Digimon will be glad to go back. We haven't gone in a while," Ashley noted.

_Ashley and Amber had the chance to go to the Digital World with us last year. They got their digimon at that time. Ashley got Gatomon and Amber got Patamon. I remember Renamon training with them to help them become more experienced, and it helped them a great deal. Of course, like they said, nothing really has happened in a long time, and things have been pretty quiet, so a chance for them to actually fight was quite slim._

Richard's stomach started to growl in hunger; he forgot to eat quite a few times in the morning, and this day was one of them.

"Mom, I'm hungry," Richard said, looking up at Riley.

"How about you ask everyone else if they're hungry and if they'll like to join of us for an early morning breakfast?" Riley suggested.

"Okay!" Richard walked over to Takato and Ashley first. "Would you care to have an early morning breakfast with us?"

"Sure, sounds like a plan," Takato said. "Is that okay with you?"

"Uh-huh," Ashley replied.

"Okay." Richard pranced over to Henry and Amber. "Will you join us for breakfast?"

The two nodded and smiled. "Yay!" He went up to Jeri, Jason, Kazu, Alice, and Kenta and before he could ask, Jason already answered the question.

"Sure, we'll have breakfast with you."

"Hey mom, we're going to need one BIG table," Richard said, looking at his mom.

Kody had woken up and was standing up, gripping Riley's shirt, as she grabbed her things. "We'll meet all of you at the restaurant, at the corner, across the street."

* * *

DF103: Alright. There's the conclusion to the first chapter. Gave you a taste of what's to come. And for those who need it, here's the ages of everyone in this chapter so far. Rika, Takato, Henry, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, Amber, and Ashley are 26. Ryo and Jason are 27. Richard is 8. Kody is soon to be 2. Riley is somewhere in her late 30s. Did I get everyone? Mm. Oh well, there you go. In future chapters, if something happens where you need some past reference, at the end of each chapter, I'll have a note to where to refer to, alright? Okay. There ya go people. 'Till next chapter, peace out. 


	2. Unexpected Visitors

It All Comes Down To This

Unexpected Visitors

DF103: FIRST UPDATE THIS YEAR! I've waited and waited and I can't hold onto this fic any longer. In all honesty, I had this chapter done last…October, I think. It's written on my online journal saying that I was going to post it sometime last year, but I had to wait. Yesh. Besides that, my writing skills have…changed. I've been writing more of my original fics on FP. Anyway, introduce the chapter, someone…these people have waited too long.

Immature DF103: We don't own Ashley, Amber, Digimon, and (I think) 2 other characters, which will appear in this chapter…and…DF103 does own herself (you'll see), Jason, and Richard. Now enjoy chapter two!

DF103: BTW! You all said it not really but now comes the truth about Jason! not really, again -.-;; just read…

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Riley, Kody, and Richard sauntered down the hospital corridor towards the exit of the building. Everyone else gathered their belongings and followed the same path.

"We're just going to leave without saying anything?" Kazu asked, with his jacket in his hand.

"They know we have other things to tend to. Don't worry about it," Henry replied.

Kazu shrugged and put his jacket on. He ran to catch up with the others.

From the windows at the front of the building, the sun's rays slowly crept into the room where the reception desk was. The automatic doors slid open and a rush of the cool, early winter's breeze blew into the building.

"Mm…feels great out today," commented Jeri, as she took a deep breath, and turned to Jason, wrapping her arms around his arm. "Don't you think?"

"Uh-huh," Jason answered. He looked around and saw all the people walking around the streets. It was nearly 6:30, yet the whole city was as lively as it was at night. "This city never sleeps, does it?"

"Of course not. You're always sleeping till like 10:00 in the morning to notice," Jeri giggled.

Kazu and Kenta walked behind them, with jealousy, raging in their eyes when Jeri rested her head on Jason's shoulder. "How would she know when he wakes up?"

"Okay, so tell me this. Why does the new guy get a girl, and yet, we've lived here forever and we're still without a girl?" Kazu asked. "We're in our twenties. Everyone says you're supposed to have fun, but how can anyone have fun without a girl?"

"I don't know…" Kenta answered.

"Technically, they're not going out. They're just really close to each other," Takato answered, from behind them. "Besides, your days will come."

Kazu raised an eyebrow and looked at Ashley, who walked alongside Takato. "And, you." Kazu pointed at Takato, turning around and walking backwards.

"What?" Takato asked, looking both ways to make sure Kazu was actually pointing to him. "What did I do?"

"If you didn't break up with Jeri, _that_ wouldn't be possible," Kazu said, pointing to the two, over his shoulder. He thought for a moment, before he whispered, "Of course, if Jeri had actually killed herself, none of this would be possible either. Or we can just get rid of Jason. That's always another possibility."

"Kazu, that's just cruel!" Henry snapped. "That remark is going to come back and hit you on the head."

"Um, Kazu…" Alice whispered.

"I can't believe you would say something like that," Amber murmured.

"I wouldn't believe it, if _anyone_ said it," Ashley commented.

"Well, it's true…" Kazu whined.

"What's true?" Jeri asked, removing her head off Jason's shoulder and turning to the rest of the group.

"Oh, nothing," Kazu said in a singsong tone.

"Kazu, you should really watch where you're going," Alice noted, indistinctly pointing out in front of her.

Kazu laughed before he turned around and ran into a pole. He drew in a large breath before partially screaming with his mouth shut. "Aieee…" Kazu's hands covered his face, trying not to cry out in pain.

"Smart move, Kazu," Ashley noted, sarcastically.

"What goes around comes around. No offense, but you deserved that," Henry said, laughingly.

Kazu gave Henry a death glare through his fingers. He removed his hands from his face; he had a distinct red mark where he hit himself and a little bit of blood dribbled down from his nose. "And you didn't warn me ahead of time because…?"

"Once again, I was left unheard…" Alice muttered.

"You shouldn't even be walking backwards in the first place," Amber replied, repressing her laughs. "Take responsibility for your actions."

"Whatever," Kazu answered back, sniffling. He opened the door and let everyone into the cozy restaurant. The warm air caressed their faces from the cold atmosphere.

After a moment's search, they spotted Richard, Riley, and Kody, sitting at a large table near the windows. Kazu ran straight into the bathroom to clean up his nose, while the rest sat down, placing their jackets on the backs of the chairs. They all picked up the menus and glanced at the food selections.

"What happened to him?" Riley asked, taking a sip of her cup of coffee, holding her cup with both hands, fingers intertwined, propped up by her elbows.

"Ran into a light pole," Jeri replied, smiling at the image she got in her head.

Riley chuckled and Richard burst out into laughter. "Kazu is funny!" Richard yelled out.

Kazu walked out of the bathroom and heard Richard's comment. He smiled and laughed along with him. His nose was slightly red and inflamed. Slowly, his hand made its way to his nose, still throbbing in pain. "A lesson well-learned. NEVER walk backwards."

"Good to know you're still learning something, even when you're out of school, Kazu," Riley responded.

Kazu looked at the menu, along with everyone else, covering his face so no one would see his nose. A waitress, wearing a skirt and a blouse and holding a tray, bounced over to the group's table.

"Okay Ms., you got the omelet." She placed a plate of omelet and hash browns, in front of Riley. "And, you got the pancakes, cutie," she smiled and placed a plated stacked with pancakes in front of Richard. She grabbed a small bottle of syrup from an empty table and set it beside the plate of pancakes.

"Thank you," Riley mentioned, before eating. The server smiled.

The waitress looked at the others and tilted her head. "What can I get all of you, this morning?"

"Water, with extra ice," Kazu requested, in a nasal tone. "And, I'll take a bowl of Miso soup."

A few snickers were heard from a group of people nearby. The waitress giggled taking a glance at Kazu, over the menu he had in front of him. He sneered, trying to avoid the wandering eyes of all the people sitting around him.

"Just get the rest of us a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and hash browns," Henry answered for the rest, putting Kazu out of his misery from embarrassment.

"Okay," the waitress answered in a perky tone. She walked back with her hair 'swishing' from side to side. The group put their menus back on the rack, on top of the table.

"She's awfully perky this early in the morning," Kenta said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eye.

"…And observant," Kazu added. A burst of laughter came from Jeri. He glared. "It's no use. No matter how much I try to hide it, people will still notice."

"Gosh, Kazu. You're so touchy today," Alice noted.

"I woke up really early, and I'm still cranky so lay off," Kazu retorted.

"All because of his nose being as red as Jason's eye," Henry added. There were scattered laughs.

"Yeah…" Jason affirmed. He paused and processed what Henry just said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. My eye is not red," Jason proclaimed. "What made you think their both red?" The light chuckles stopped.

"Not both of them. Just the left one," Ashley replied. "It IS supposed to be red…right?"

"No, it's hazel-ish brown. Colored contact. You must be mistaken."

"Wait a minute! You're telling us that your eyes are blue and brown, where as your eyes tell us otherwise," Kenta said, pointing to both of Jason's eyes. "That one's blue. And, the other one is definitely red."

Everyone, Amber especially, looked at his eye and verified that it was indeed a demonic scarlet color. 'There is something very wrong with him. Something's not right,' Amber thought, somewhat glaring at Jason.

"Jason, it's been that color since the day I met you," Jeri mentioned.

"When was the last time you looked in the mirror?" Alice asked.

Jason had a doubtful look plastered on his face. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This is some kind of joke, isn't it? You're all in on it."

"Dude, go look for yourself. I might've run into a pole, but my vision is still A-okay," Kazu suggested.

"You know what? I think I will go see for myself," Jason said in a cocky manner. He stormed into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. "A mirror reflects the truth. Show me the truth, you piece of glass." He gazed intently into the mirror, first his right eye, which was blue, and the other one, which was…a shade of gray. "What the hell!"

Henry walked into the bathroom and saw Jason shatter the mirror with his fist, the pieces each falling to the ground with a smash. Jason fell to his knees and halted Henry. "Stay…away…from…me." He confusedly looked at all the pieces on the floor with broadened eyes

"Jason, what's this about?" Henry asked, stepping back and kneeling down. "What's wrong?"

"Stop with the nice guy act!" Jason exclaimed. He huffed and pointed to the partially shattered mirror. "The mirror lied to me. My left eye—it's gray."

Henry raised an eyebrow. 'Did he just say the mirror lied to him? Since when did mirrors…talk?' He looked down at Jason's fist, bloody with pieces of glass protruding from his skin. "Jason, you're bleeding. You should get it cleaned up."

Jason looked at his fist. Gray. Gray running from his elbow to his fist when he brought it up to his face. He touched it with his other hand and felt the runny texture rubbing his fingers together in the substance. Looking at it, he licked his finger, and tasted the warm, metallic substance, which he now recognized as blood. Henry looked skeptical.

"Why?" Jason whispered, again looking all over the floor with a bemused expression. He looked up at Henry. "I don't see it. The red. It's not there."

Henry shifted over towards Jason and examined his bloody hand and his left eye. "Jason. I think you're colorblind."

Jason looked up, perplexed, then enraged. "Are you saying that my perfect vision which I was born with, has gone defective on me? Are you!" Jason yelled out. He pushed Henry over. "Don't tell me that." Jason's veins started to pop out as he clenched his fists, blood running down his arm, and spreading across the floor.

While the two were in the bathroom, everyone else already got their food and was eating. They heard the noise in the bathroom, but simply thought it was another person breaking a plate in the kitchen. As for the indistinguishable yelling, they concluded that someone was getting fired in the back office.

Richard was already done and was watching everyone talk and eat. He was observing them through his glass of orange juice. Gradually, the half-empty cup of juice made ripples, the silverware clattered, and the ground rumbled. Very distant screams were heard and the floor shook as something large stomped around. Richard was startled and Kody began to cry.

"What's going on?" Richard cried out.

"Um…guys. I hate to say it, but this seems extremely familiar…" Takato said, looking out the window.

"What's happening? What do you mean this seems 'extremely familiar?'" Ashley asked, looking around, hearing all the things fall off the walls.

"Is this one of those earthquakes?" Amber asked in a panicky tone.

"No. Not all," Riley answered, as she gazed out the window, watching the trees vibrate. "It's big." She tried to calm Kody down as his wails grew louder.

"I want to know what's going!" Amber yelled out.

Richard clung to Riley's arm. Riley glanced at Takato and nodded. "They're back." The diners who sat behind Takato saw his D-arc flashing through his pocket. They gasped and evacuated the building.

"We're going to go. We'll meet you guys over there." Kazu and Kenta ran out the restaurant and disappeared within the crowds of awestruck people who were gazing out somewhere near the park. Jeri and Alice exchanged glances before looking at Ashley and Amber.

"What?" Ashley looked puzzled. "I have no idea what's going, and you two look like you're bothered by something. That worries me."

"Would someone tell us what's going on!" Amber exclaimed.

"Jeri, Alice, you have to go. Find somewhere safe. Riley. You, Kody, and Richard should do the same." They all nodded and ran out. Takato took out his D-arc and showed it to the two mystified girls. The red arrows spun around on the screen, pulsating. They finally stopped and pointed to the park. "Digimon."

"Oh no."

Henry burst out of the bathroom, glancing back every once in a while to see if Jason was following him. His gray shirt had a little bit of Jason's blood, smudged on it. He got back to the group and panted. "He's gone berserk!" A cacophonous crash was heard. Henry looked back and saw Jason crawl out of the bathroom, clutching his head with his bloody arm.

"What happened to you?" Amber asked, not expecting Henry to come back with blood on his shirt.

"Nothing bad…" Henry replied before he turned his attention to a loud beeping sound coming from Takato.

Takato's D-arc went crazy again before it pointed to Jason. Henry saw what it was doing. "What's wrong with your digivice?"

"I-I don't know. Take yours out."

Henry took his out of his pocket and it first pointed to the park, then to Jason. Ashley and Amber did the same, showing the similar results. Then, all the digivices beeped and went haywire, before they all went blank.

"What the hell?" Takato yelled out. He ran his hand through his hair in confusion. A knock came from the window. The four of them whipped around and saw Renamon, Guilmon, Monodramon, Terriermon, Patamon, and Gatomon.

A muffled, "Hurry up" was heard from the digimon as they headed for the park.

Takato looked back at his digivice and shook it. Nothing. He thought nothing of it and stuffed it in his pocket. "Let's go!" Takato yelled out, racing out the door.

The other three jogged to the door, passing by the bathrooms. They saw Jason curled up in a fetal position. Amber and Ashley were about to go, before they noticed Henry, still standing in front of the bathroom door. The stall doors were knocked down and all the other mirrors were on the floor in pieces.

"Come on, Henry," Amber yelled out, opening the door.

Henry looked back at the two girls, and then to Jason again. He sighed and grabbed Jason's arm. Jason groaned. "It's sometimes good to act nice," Henry whispered in his ear, before he dragged him out the restroom door. "Now, get up. I'd hate to drag you all the way to the park." Jason looked sedated, his body, limp. Henry helped him up and assisted him in walking.

"What are you doing?" Amber scowled. "Something happened between the two of you in there and you're still willing to help him?"

"Mm—yeah. If I learned anything from life up to now, it would have to be that everyone deserves a second chance. What happened in the there was nothing," Henry explained, looking back at the restrooms. He continued walking. "Now, we have to go help Takato, Kazu, and Kenta."

Meanwhile, Takato had been following the digimon, looking for the wild one that was on the loose somewhere around the park. The brunet constantly waited for his digivice's assistance, but it did him no good. "The digimon isn't that big then, I'm guessing," he mumbled to himself, after wandering the park grounds for a while. "I wonder where Kazu and Kenta went off to." He turned around and expected Henry, Ashley, and Amber shortly behind him. "And, where are those three?"

The digimon paused and examined the vicinity, looking for any signs of the untamed beast. There were no signs at all, and the noises seemed to have died down. "What's going on here?" Takato asked, noticing the abnormal silence.

"Maybe it decided to go back home!" Terriermon yelled out, excitedly. A disgruntled growl was heard. "Or not."

"It came from over there." Gatomon pointed to the direction and they all spread out to search some more.

Loud, scratchy beeps rang out from Takato's hand. The digivice displayed the direction of where the wild digimon was located. "It's about time." He and the digimon followed the pointer, which guided them to a ravaged area of the park; trees were knocked down and clouds of dust were everywhere. Within the shroud, they saw a pair of illuminated, red eyes, and then a glimmer of what looked like a sword.

"It's Musyamon!" Guilmon cried out.

"No way!" Takato exclaimed. He attempted to bypass the dust, but couldn't see the digimon. "It can't be him. We creamed him—I saw his data disappear—he's not supposed to be here! He's not supposed to come back!"

A grunt was heard before the trees in front of Takato plunged down with a swipe of the digimon's sword. The dust churned in his face and blurred his vision. He took a step back while attempting to fan some of the light dust away, to keep his eyes from watering and to avoid coughing.

"Takato!" Henry yelled out, running up to him, after sitting Jason down under a tree. Amber and Ashley trailed behind him. The digimon reunited with their tamers and waited for the dirt to settle. "Did you see the digimon yet?"

"No, but Guilmon said it's Musyamon."

"How's that possible? We finished it off that one time almost thirteen years ago."

"That's what I said…" Takato mentioned, before hearing the digimon approaching. The dry leaves and twigs crunched under each step it took.

"Well, we're about to find out if it's really him." Henry pointed to the silhouette that approached the group. "Get ready…"

The digimon rustled through the shrubbery until it made contact with the four tamers and the digimon. It turned out to be a distorted version of Musyamon, lacking some of his armor and looking stronger and twice as much bigger, since the last time Takato and Henry saw it. Amber and Ashley's eyes were widened with a disconcerting feeling within them. They held their D-arcs up to the digimon to identify it, but it never registered.

"Who is this guy?" Ashley asked.

"We don't know, but we're not going to wait to find out," Takato commented, sending Guilmon to battle the Musyamon doppelganger. Takato swiped a digivolution card through his D-arc and Guilmon digivolved to Growlmon. "Go get him, Growlmon!"

"First time we get to actually fight a digimon in years, and Takato goes ahead and takes care of it. I guess we're not needed here." Henry observed Guilmon and Musyamon throwing attack after attack at each other, neither of them making a successful hit. "Eh, what do you think, Terriermon, should we help Guilmon and Takato?"

"Yeah! I shouldn't miss out on the fun!" Terriermon got in his fighting stance, ready to run into the battle. "I'm ready when you are."

"Right." Henry took out his digivolution card and swiped it through his digivice. Terriermon glowed before morphing into a different shape and transforming into Gargomon.

Before attacking, Gargomon snuck around, behind the enemy so that it wouldn't evade the attack. Growlmon held back an attack, waiting for Gargomon to get in place. Renamon appeared above the wild one also awaiting Gargomon's gesture. Gargomon was ready and was waiting for Renamon's cue to attack. Monodramon, Gatomon, and Patamon watched the three of them, as Musyamon's watchful eye never left Growlmon's.

"Boom bubble," Patamon said, releasing a large amount of bubbles from its mouth. Musyamon's body turned to Patamon, the other two digimon and the two tamers.

"Uh-oh," Amber whispered, taking a slow step back. The unidentified look-alike pointed his sword at the petrified Patamon.

"Now!" Renamon yelled out, plunging down towards the enemy. Renamon grasped the enemy's arms causing it to drop its sword with a clang. Musyamon grunted, trying to get out of Renamon's firm grip. "Hurry and attack."

"Pyro Blaster!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

The two attacks advanced towards the digimon. Renamon disappeared a fraction of a second before the two attacks converged. The digimon howled and its data dispersed into the air; the tiny sparkles staying airborne before they disappeared.

Ashley and Amber were mesmerized by what they saw. Henry and Takato, on the other hand had disturbed expressions on their faces. "Is it just me, or did that seem just a tad bit too easy?" Henry asked, with his hand elevated gesturing the 'tad bit' amount with his fingers.

"I agree." Takato looked at the digimon.

"What are you talking about, Takato? We're just stronger. That's why we beat Musyamon!" Growlmon said, raising his arms with joy.

"Yeah, you can't just underestimate our powers like that, Henry," Gargomon added.

Renamon joined the group. "I'd have to say, for a champion digimon that was the weakest I've ever fought and I'm only in my rookie level."

"So, there _is_ something to it. What's going on here?" Henry pondered.

"Don't keep yourself wondering about something that has already happened. It's gone, right?" Amber asked, with Patamon on her head.

"I guess so…"

"You know so. Just go ahead and say it," Patamon noted.

"Uh, yeah."

"This is weird. That thing looked like Musyamon, almost identical. Why is it back?" Takato asked, sitting down on a fallen tree.

"We should check in with Yamaki sometime to see what's up. If it were anyone, Yamaki would probably know something about this," Henry said, staring at his digivice, which was once again blank, apparently defunct for the while. "Maybe he'll know what's wrong with our digivices, too."

"Yeah…"

"Do you think there'll be more?" Ashley asked, "Because we can always help, you know."

"Let's hope not, but if there are—" Takato began before he was interrupted by Kazu and Kenta.

"We're here!" Kazu yelled, waving his arms frantically, as the two and their digimon jumped over the shrubs.

"You two got here a little too late," Renamon mentioned.

"The digivices were screwed up!" Kazu complained. "We couldn't locate you guys or the digimon."

"Yeah well, they didn't even need us," Gatomon added, "so you wouldn't have done anything even if you were here."

"Aw! Just when I thought I could help out," Kenta whined. "I wish there is another digimon so we could fight for once!" Kenta kicked the grass.

The ground began to shake again. The leaves each fell off the trees and Monodramon fell over. "Now, you've done it, Kenta! I bet this a big digimon!" Kazu yelled out, hanging onto a tree.

"I didn't mean it!" Kenta cried back.

A few feet in front of the whole group, an enormous, blinding, white light appeared on the ground, and from it, emerged a blue and white, wingless, miniature, plane-like machine, a little smaller than an average car.

"That's no digimon," Henry commented, as the machine ran over a few trees. Kenta sighed, and wiped his brow.

When the contraption stopped, the group looked at its entirety. "This looks similar to the ark." Takato walked up to it and ran his hand along the hot surface. "When we were thirteen, we rode something like this back here from the Digital World," Takato explained, to Ashley and Amber.

The machine didn't have any windows or doors, or at least none that the tamers could see. A trail of mechanical parts was seen behind the machine near the engine like apparatus.

"If that's the ark, wouldn't there be people in there?" Henry asked, crossing his arms. "And if that really is an ark, whoever is in there won't be able to go anywhere with the condition its in."

Guilmon sniffed around the ark. "I smell digimon."

The front part of the machine steamed, making a loud hissing sound, startling Guilmon. Feminine screams were heard from the inside, before a hatch opened with smoke rushing out. The tamers and their digimon hid in the bushes as they heard coughs and saw them tumble out of what they now established as an ark. The three were lying on the ground catching some fresh air.

"I still think you made a wrong turn," a girl with dark brown, almost black, hair and tanned skin said, while gasping for air. She wore a lavender colored shirt and bellbottoms. The tamers were surprised that they could speak Japanese.

"No, I didn't for the hundredth time! I swear. A wild digimon signal was coming from this place," a girl with shoulder length black hair answered, muffled because she was in a prone position. She had a lighter skin tone than the other girl, and wore a black hat, worn backwards, with a dark blue shirt and baggy blue jeans.

The third one managed to get up and examined the ark. "Stop fighting, you two. The ark…umm…isn't okay…" she said, slowly. She had short, dark brown hair, wearing titanium-framed glasses, with a blue shirt on and pants. She fixed her glasses, hopelessly looking at the damaged ark.

"This isn't good. This is NOT good!" a dog-like digimon said, pacing around. "What are we going to do, Amanda?"

"I don't know," the girl with the glasses, said.

"Well, we can all blame it on, Sarah!" the girl with the bellbottoms on exclaimed. She dusted herself off, and looked around for her digimon. "Do you know where Ranamon is?"

"No, I don't know where Ranamon is…and, it's not my fault!" the black-haired girl yelled, still sprawled out on the ground with her face down. A red and white digimon poked her back.

"Yeah, it is." She continued looking for her digimon, peeking into the ark every once in a while.

"No…"

"Okay, since you insisted the 'wild' digimon was here, tell us where it is. Better yet, tell us exactly where we are, 'Sherlock.'"

The girl with the hat got up, and glared at the girl with the lavender shirt, before walking around the vicinity. The tamers stayed in their hiding places, hoping not to get caught. "Well, I can't tell with all these trees."

"At least you can say there was a digimon here, based on the way the trees are scattered," the girl with the glasses replied.

The girl with the hat began climb a tree.

"Don't fall," the girl with the glasses, advised. She watched her friend venture up into the tree.

"Hope you fall!" the other girl said, laughingly.

"Thanks for the support. Really appreciate it, Tomoyo," the girl in the tree said, sarcastically.

"No problem."

She got to the treetop and saw many tall buildings and a lot of people on the streets, but nowhere near them. She examined the place some more until she saw a road sign written in Japanese. "I think we're in Japan." She slowly climbed back down, before she spotted Patamon. She screamed and slid off the tree, landing on her back with a loud 'THUD.'

"Sarah!" the red and white digimon exclaimed running over to her.

The other two girls sweat-dropped. "She'll never change…"

The girl curled up in pain, and pointed in a certain direction, where she saw Patamon. "A digimon over there. Go look, Tomoyo."

"Really?" Tomoyo walked over, and vigilantly looked over the bushes. "This isn't one of your jokes, is it?" She saw everyone hiding, and jumped back. "Holy crap!"

Takato stood up first. "Uh, hi," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry to startle you. We didn't mean to," Amber said, apologetically.

There was an awkward pause. "¿Cómo?" The group was confused. "Hmm. You look like adults…but you sure don't act like 'em, especially when you're hiding in the bushes," Tomoyo said, incredulously.

"Eh…guess you're right…that was a childish act," Henry replied, hesitantly.

"So…" Tomoyo started. "You have digimon?"

"Yeah. And, we can see that you do, too," Ashley commented, gesturing to the three digimon behind Tomoyo.

"Yeah. I'm Tomoyo Higarashi, by the way."

"I'm Takato Matsuki," Takato said, then pointing to each person. "This is Ashley Okuja. Amber Kamisaka. Henry Wong. Kenta Kitagawa. And, Kazu Shioda."

"Nice to meet you all," Tomoyo answered. She turned around and waved her uninjured friend over. "This is Amanda Nevaeh (pronounced Nev-Ay-Uh). The one on the ground is Sarah Rutherford."

"Rutherford?" Amber gulped.

"Um, yeah. Why? Do you know a Rutherford?" Amanda asked, suspiciously.

Henry forgot about Jason. He turned around to glance at Jason, but he wasn't there. He whipped around, looking for him, and found him right next to him, looking at Sarah.

"Yeah…him," Ashley replied pointing to Jason.

"Jason?" Amanda and Tomoyo shrieked. "He's changed a lot…" Amanda whispered to Tomoyo, looking cautiously at him.

"He's even creepier than before," Tomoyo whispered back, grimacing at the sight of him. Jason walked over towards Sarah.

"You two know him?" Amber asked interested in what they had to say about him.

"Unfortunately…" Tomoyo replied.

"We didn't just know him. We've known him since forever!" Amanda exaggerated, then lowering her voice again down to a whisper. "He's such a pervert. Disturbed from the day we met him. He ran around in the nude once, chasing other girls when he was ten."

"He what?" the group shouted out, their eyes just about bulging out of their sockets.

"Shh…he'll hear you…" Amanda shushed, putting a finger over her lips.

"Could we just not talk about that? Just remembering what happened gives me the chills," Tomoyo said, rubbing her arms, as if a cold breeze blew.

"I don't think I would want to know…" Terriermon grimaced.

With disturbed looks on their faces, they looked back at Jason, standing over the black-haired girl.

Jason looked at the digimon, and then observed the girl, lying on her side. He grabbed her by her shirt and picked her up, which caused her to half-open her eyes. His eyebrows perked up, as he recognized who it was. "Haven't seen you in a long time." He studied her look, and then saw how many inches she was off the ground from where he held her up. "You're still short…"

At this time, she was aware of what was going on. "Jason?" she kicked him where it'd hurt any guy. He let go of her and leaned against a tree, biting down on his lip, hand over his manhood. Sarah grabbed her digimon and ran over to her friends.

The guys winced imagining the pain Jason felt, whereas the girls snickered. "Jeez. The first time I see you in a while and you kick me."

"I bet you missed having that done to you, huh? You're welcome in advance, by the way," Sarah retorted.

"For what?" Jason asked, bent over in pain.

"For being the same perverted jerk, you've always been," replied Sarah, sticking her tongue out at Jason.

"You haven't changed at all yourself…still the same Lil Sarah, I knew…unfortunately."

"What did he just call you?" Kazu asked.

"Oh, just a nickname I had," Sarah replied. "Wait…who're you?"

"They're tamers," Tomoyo answered, introducing each of them. "Takato, Henry, Amber, Ashley, Kazu, and Kenta."

"Ah," Sarah said, taking her hat off, and putting it on her digimon. "Yeah, I'm supposedly his younger sister."

The group blinked. They looked at Jason's American look and compared it to Sarah's oriental look.

"She was adopted…" Amanda said, before they questioned.

"Oh…"

Jason sat down and looked at the conversing group. He took a dirt clod and threw it, aiming for Amanda, Tomoyo, or Sarah. Instead, it hit the red and white digimon.

"Ouch," it said, rubbing its back.

"What's wrong, Elecmon?" Sarah asked. Elecmon pointed to Jason, who was smirking. "Can you get anymore immature?"

"Uh-oh…there's gonna be a fight…" Tomoyo whispered. Elecmon crawled back into the ark, not wanting to hear the yells.

"I don't think so…" Jason answered. "I didn't think you would have one of those digimon things hanging around you too, since you're so violent."

"That's not true! I'm not as mean as I used to be. Jeez!" Sarah yelled out, looking back at the people, she just met. She smirked. "Why isn't your girlfriend here, hmm? I don't see her anywhere…" Jason's grin disappeared. "She left you, didn't she? What'd you do? Have another relationship with someone else?"

"Look, shut up, okay! It's none of your business." Jason got up and left.

"Hmm…bye!" Sarah waved. "I actually liked his girlfriend, too. How sad."

"And…how many years younger are you to him?" Amber asked, recognizing the display of immaturity between the two of them.

"A month and two days actually," Sarah replied. Elecmon came out of the ark, carrying a gray digivice. "Oh, I forgot that was in there."

"You forget a lot of things…" Tomoyo noted. Amanda nodded.

"Don't we all?" Henry asked.

Ranamon and Labramon looked at the inactive digivice on their tamers belt.

"It looks broken," Ranamon said, looking at Tomoyo's digivice.

Elecmon shook the digivice in its hand. It, too, was inactive. "Yup, I think it's broken."

"You've got to be kidding," Tomoyo said, checking up on her digivice. "Again!"

"Your digivices are screwed up, too, huh?" Takato asked.

"I think we should pay Yamaki a visit today," Henry suggested. "Maybe he and his crew can help fix the digivices and your ark, as well."

"You think so…?" Amanda asked, looking back at the ark.

"Of course. Yamaki is the king of this kind of stuff," Ashley replied.

"That's good," Amanda replied.

"Hmm, I'm curious. Why did you come here in the first place? Are you chasing some digimon or something?" Renamon asked.

"Well, yeah, kinda." The three newcomers exchanged hesitant looks. "We're chasing some…_thing_."

"Oh, do tell," said Monodramon, sitting down on his haunches.

* * *

DF103: Thank you. Actually, a million '_thank you's'_ to the reviewers and readers. Thank you Kari-123 for recommending one of my fics to someone. Hopefully, by the time I post, I'll post the next chapter a lot sooner. I have other fics too but this and NTADBLTS seemed to be the most 'in demand.' I prolly lost some readers for not updating, but I've been getting new readers too. Amazing how the system works. Anyway, thanks again. Till next time, L8terZ. 


	3. Bitter Premonition

It All Comes Down To This

Bitter Premonition

DF103: I jumped off the roof and, as a result, I injured my bad knee and I sprained my ankle. YAY! So, this means that I can sit in front of the computer all day, writing chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters of fics. …Or just work on my TokyoPop manga contest entry… :sweatdrops:

Devi: Or you're just going to read the Runaway Digimon Express movie manga again…

DF103: Hmm, Rika sings, her mom sings, Suzie sings, Rika's dad is mentioned, and there are too many rukato moments in that movie. I had tears in my eyes!

Devi: Um…I think she hurt her head to in the fall. She doesn't own digimon, Amber, Ashley, Tomoyo, or Amanda…but she does own Richard, Jason, and herself. Hurry, go read before she starts ranting about the movie. o.o;;

DF103: x.x :runs away singing Rika's song:

* * *

"So, you said 'some _thing_.' You mean you don't know what you're going after," Henry speculated.

"That's right," Amanda replied. "Otis Miyaka, the person who built this ark and gave us our mission, informed us on a dangerous creature, roaming both the Digital and the Real World. He wants us to destroy whatever it is."

"And you think this creature is a digimon?" Takato asked.

"Sure, why not? If it can cross-over from the Digital World to the Real World and back, then it has to be a digimon," Tomoyo explained.

The group sat in a big, campfire circle in the middle of the fallowed ground. It was very quiet with only distant voices heard. The digimon scampered around with nothing else better to do. Observing this, Henry looked up and remembered the digimon they had fought earlier.

"The digimon that was here was one that we fought and defeated years ago. Why did it come back? Do you know?" Henry asked.

The three newcomers shook their heads, before their digimon stepped up. "We know." Labramon sat down. "Its data was recovered."

"That didn't answer it Labramon…" Amanda said hopelessly. "Unfortunately, we don't know why that is."

"How dangerous is this 'dangerous creature?'" Ashley questioned, using the quote-unquote gesture. "Is it a life-threatening creature?"

"It's supposed to be very dangerous, having the power to control the digimon and maybe even more. We've come to the conclusion that that's why all these other digimon are crossing-over to the Real World," Tomoyo answered. "Whatever this is has something against the Real World."

"Do you know anything else that is relevant?" Amber asked.

"I can explain what's happened to the Digital World since this creature's appearance," Sarah began, as she took her hat off Elecmon's head and put it back on hers. "The Digital World has been barren since the digimon appeared in the Real World. It's so quiet; one could hear the echo of a dead leaf fall to the ground. Of course, it also looks like a total wreck there. But because digimon are coming into the Real World, I think the Digital World is the safest place for a person to stay."

The tamers had discouraging looks on their faces.

"The few digimon we have seen, though, appeared a little on the deformed side. They didn't look right. Some had missing eyes. Some had stubs for arms and legs." Amanda sighed. Gatomon, Patamon, Terriermon, and Guilmon looked at themselves before glancing at each other. They played around pretending not to have any arms or legs.

Takato disheveled his hair in frustration. "Why is it that we know so little about the digimon we fight?" Takato mentioned. "This reminds me of the time we fought D-Reaper."

Kazu and Kenta stared blankly at the ground. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You're looking for a digimon, but you don't know how dangerous it is or probably what it even looks like. And, the digimon are somewhat corrupted? Is that it?" Kazu asked, bitterly.

"Sadly. We've been traveling back and forth, to and from the Digital World for two years, trying to locate this digimon, but so far, our search has been unsuccessful," Tomoyo replied. She leaned up against a tree, folding her arms behind her head and stretched. "It gets tiring, traveling every single time a digimon appears somewhere around the world."

The tamers raised an eyebrow. "How have you been surviving?" Ashley asked.

"We have basically everything we need in the ark. It was constructed like that. And, whenever we needed a little 'me-time,' we'd just walk around wherever we are. Hardest thing out of all this is to get our money exchanged to the different currencies," Amanda said, coolly.

"And them?" Amber asked, gesturing to the digimon.

"They usually stay in the ark…or we disguise them. But, we didn't do that for quite awhile because we've been staying in the Digital World," Tomoyo replied.

"Of course now, we'd have to do something about it since we actually have to stay in the city for a while because the ark is totaled," Sarah added.

"Well, it wouldn't be messed up if you weren't driving this time," Tomoyo whined. "You should've let me drive. Or Amanda."

"Oh, so now I'm being blamed for driving the ark and crashing it. That's so nice," Sarah replied, sarcastically.

"You did crash it into a tree…" Amanda noted, glancing back at the ark. "And, it's in pretty bad shape."

"What? So, I have to pay for the damages or something? What do you want me to do!" Sarah retorted, pulling her hat down over her face.

The tamers exchanged glances. "Wonder how they managed not to kill each other for those two years," Ashley whispered. "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Kazu and Kenta gazed at the three of them bicker. In amusement, they absent-mindedly replied, "No, let them fight. It's funny."

"Eh…let's go see Yamaki now." Henry stood up and brushed himself off, ignoring Kazu and Kenta's remarks.

"Sounds good…" the arguing three digressed, before resuming their petty dispute.

As the group proceeded out of the park, Kazu pointed to the ark. "Is there anyway we could hide that…?"

"Sure. We could always throw a few leaves over it, maybe some branches and twigs, to hide it. No one will EVER know it's here." Tomoyo smirked, crossing her arms. Kazu scoffed turned the other way.

"I'll stay here," Renamon volunteered.

"I will, too," Guardromon said. MarineAngemon hopped off Kenta's shoulder and landed on Guardromon. "And MarineAngemon, also." Henry gave a thumbs-up. "You can count on us! We'll protect your ark!"

"When do you think our ark will be fixed by this Yamaki dude?" Tomoyo asked.

Henry put a hand to his chin, before he turned to Takato. "Hey, Takato. How long did it take to fix the old ark?"

"Grani? You expect me to remember something like that? That was so long ago."

"My bad. I should've known."

In the dark, Yamaki stood hunched over in front of the few computers that monitored the Digital World. Tally, a long-time friend of Riley and an employee of Yamaki, sat in the chair next to Yamaki, detecting some disturbance between the Digital World and the Real World. Almost thirteen years had past since they'd seen any digimon-related action in Japan, although they had heard rumors of digimon appearing in the other parts of the world.

"Yamaki, the anomaly is still slowly growing," Tally informed.

"What could it be?"

"Sir, Mr. Wong and his friends are here to see you," a young lady called in through the walkie-talkie clipped firmly to his belt.

Yamaki grabbed the two-way radio and answered, "Which one? Tao or Henry?"

"It's Mr. Henry Wong, sir. They want to speak with you about some digimon appearances."

"Great," he muttered before he replied, "Send them in. I'm in the monitor room." Yamaki put the walkie-talkie down and sighed. "Tao and the others better find an explanation for the sudden digimon occurrences."

"Sir, there are three unknown digimon in the building," Tally informed. "They're coming closer. Closer. Closer."

"Hey Yamaki! Long time, no see." Takato emerged from the brightly lit doorway, along with everyone else.

"Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Yamaki stood up and shook hands with Takato. "What brings you around on your day off, Wong?" He noticed three unfamiliar faces near the door. "New friends?" Labramon ran out from crowd, being chased by Ranamon and Elecmon trudging behind. "And digimon?"

Tally glanced at the monitor and then to the digimon. "Oops."

Henry waved the three over. "You guys are from America, right?" Henry whispered. They nodded. "They arrived from America a few minutes ago."

"Oh? Friends of Ashley and Amber?"

"Actually, we've never met them until today," Ashley clarified.

Yamaki was baffled. "So…you just found three random Americans with digimon for that matter and brought them here?"

"We arrived in an ark," Amanda laughed haltingly as Yamaki's eyes widened. "We were hoping to get assistance in fixing it."

Yamaki picked the radio back up. "Could you page Dolphin, Babel, Daisy, Tao, Curly…one of them, and tell them to come into the monitor room immediately." He took out his trademark sunglasses and put them on. "Where's this ark of yours?"

"Sitting in the park. Renamon, Guardromon, and MarineAngemon are watching over it," Amber replied. "It's not like we could drag the thing over here."

"Okay, when one of the Monster Makers come here, we'll—"

"You called?" Dolphin asked, appearing in the doorway and interrupting Yamaki. "Well, if it isn't Henry and company. What brings you here?"

"They've got an ark in need of repair somewhere in the park." Amanda, Tomoyo, and Sarah looked hopeful.

"Is that so?" Dolphin was astonished to hear this. "Let's see what we could do to help. Take me there."

"Maybe you can explain the digimon thing on the way," Yamaki whispered to Henry as they walked out.

Outside, they gathered. Henry and Yamaki spoke amongst themselves as the others waited. Kazu and Kenta yawned and glanced at their watches. "I'm late for work," they both exclaimed. "We'll see you guys later. Oh, and welcome to Japan!" On a whim, they both ran in the same direction, they're neckties flapping behind them.

"Freaky. They think very much alike," Amanda commented.

"I guess business partners are supposed to be like that," Amber noted. "It's probably in their job description."

"Hah! Being complete idiots at times and being lazy? I'm sure," Ashley laughed.

"Those two can't be as bad as you make him seem," Tomoyo absent-mindedly said. Amanda nodded. Their digimon looked up at them in confusion.

Henry turned around and said, "The digimon and I are going to be riding with Yamaki. The rest of you can ride with Dolphin in the van. See you guys there." All the digimon except Ranamon got in the black Subaru.

"I'm not sitting in that thing. I must embrace the freedom I finally have!" Ranamon exclaimed, twirling around with her arms raised.

"Aw come on. We won't bite," Terriermon stated.

"Just get in," Labramon and Elecmon struggled to pull her into the car and closed the door. The car bobbed around and slightly swerved before it was back on track.

"We should hurry and follow," Dolphin suggested, opening the van doors. Takato took the front seat and everyone else moved into second and third row of seats in the van. The van started and followed Yamaki's trail.

"Don't tell me you guys have a thing for those two…" Sarah murmured to her two friends.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Tomoyo smirked, and crossing her arms. "Right, Amanda?"

"R-right," Amanda replied as if snapping out of a daydream.

"So, anyway, you never told us your brother got red contact lenses…I mean, lens," Tomoyo broached, straying from the Kazu and Kenta topic.

"I didn't know about it. It's probably something he did here," Sarah replied, shrugging it off as if it were nothing.

Amber and Ashley turned around in their seats. "You mean he didn't have those creepy-looking eyes when he left America?" Ashley asked.

"He didn't have that mohawk either," Tomoyo answered.

"His girlfriend must've really hurt him… not that I actually care," Sarah scoffed.

Amber bit her lip, the night that still haunts her plaguing her mind. She clenched her fists. "I can't see that guy ever dating, even if he is dating Jeri. That jerk of a man."

"Wow, raging hate from all directions for Jason," Takato noted.

"You're not going to tell him about this, are you?" Amber asked, raising an eyebrow.

Takato laughed haltingly. "Um, no…"

"Destination here," Dolphin called out, taking the keys out. "Now, lead me to your ark."

One by one, each of them stepped out. They walked through many trees before the metallic blue reflected in the sunlight within the shrubbery. Takato and the others joined up with Yamaki, Henry, and the digimon as Dolphin's eyes gleamed. "Fascinating. This looks much more advanced than Grani." He walked up the door. "May I take a quick look?" he asked, looking at the owners of the ark.

"Go ahead," Amanda replied. "It might be a little smoky in there, though."

Dolphin stepped into the machine and gasped in amazement at the complexity of it all, not to mention how spacious it was for such a small size on the outside. Ignoring the light clouds of smoke, he ventured to the vehicle's bridge where it displayed the traditional American left side driver's seat, with controls that function like an SUV. The rest appeared to be like a miniature recreational vehicle complete with four beds (two on each side of the ark), a television, a small refrigerator, and all other miscellaneous necessities.

He stepped out and asked, "Who created this ark?"

"Otis Miyaka," Tomoyo replied.

"Hmm, I've never heard of him. Let's see what I can do to fix this up for you." Dolphin examined the ark's exterior, searching for what was damaged. "Mechanically, I think it's just whatever powers up the ark. Other than that, everything else should be in working order."

"Great! Then, we can go hustle around the world looking for the stupid digimon thing again…" Sarah said sarcastically.

Yamaki cleared his throat in an attempt to get everyone's attention. "I think I may be able to help you with what you're looking for. Henry tells me that you've been on the search for about two years, correct?" The others nodded. "Well, I had an employee, two years ago, who tried to create a virus. I'm not sure what it is still, but maybe the virus grew into a digimon."

"It crosses over both sides of the world. That's all we know about this 'thing,'" Amanda said. "We don't know much about it ourselves."

"You see, we're still trying to get rid of this virus, but it continues to grow," Yamaki explained.

"It could be a possibility. The Digital World has been reconfigured in a strange way and the digimon do look weird," Tomoyo mentioned.

"Like I said before, we know so little about it." Takato sighed.

"Anyway, we should get this fixed. We'll worry about this when the time comes." Yamaki looked at the ark. "It sure is nice."

* * *

Devi: Wow…short chapter. o.o;; She's definitely slipping in her writing…or at least in fanfics anyway. She should've stayed with drawing. :laughs to self: Anyway, she's still off somewhere. DF103 really feels like this fic is BLAH. All I can say is that all the characters have a purpose in this fic. Let DF103 know if the fic seems to be rushed, cuz I definitely think so. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! It helps. Anyway, review if you please. Next chapter is hopefully longer. :smiles: Peace. 


	4. Perplexity

It All Comes Down To This

Chapter 4: Perplexity

DF103: I'm BACK…again. I bet some people are probably thinking, _why doesn't DF103 just disappear completely already!_ Heh… Anyway, I think instead of waiting for this chapter as well as many others to magically appear again on the broken laptop, I think I'll rewrite on _my_ NEW laptop! Yay! So with that said, this fic was due for another chapter and more Ryuki. That's right; Ryo and Rika will make an appearance. Finally, right? I know some readers hinted that they wanted more Ryuki. So, here it is. I don't own any part of Digimon, Amber, Ashley, Tomoyo, or Amanda. Sorry for the wait, you guys.

* * *

Large violet eyes stared back up at Rika. "She hasn't fussed once since I was brought into this room, even after that strange quake we had." 

"I know, although, I don't think that quake was any quake," Ryo replied, looking out the hospital room window. "There's something eerily familiar about it." He turned his attention back to Rika and their newborn, gazing at them as if there were nothing else in the world, but them, to love. "She's so beautiful. And, she's ours."

Mio opened her teeth-less mouth and yawned, closing her eyes. Rika shed a tear, quickly turning her head the other way, so Ryo wouldn't see her. "She really_ is_ ours."

"Yup… Hey, Rika, are you okay?" Ryo asked, sitting up on the bed and wrapping an arm around her waist.

_Damn hormone imbalance. _"I'm fine…" Rika claimed when in fact, she was wishing desperately that her mother would be with her on such occasion. She looked back down and weakly smiled. "Right, Mio?" She turned to Ryo. "I'm also exhausted. Ryo, could you please take her?"

"Yeah. Sure." Ryo reached over and cradled Mio. "I'll let you sleep. You need your rest anyway."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, so go on. Shoo." Rika made a shooing gesture toward the door and rested her head on the pillow. The omnipresent nurses filed out of the room with Ryo following. He shut the door behind him with Mio in one arm and then adjusted her blanket as he noted, "That's a taste of your mommy's attitude. You better watch out for that one when you get a little bigger." Mio fidgeted and just stared back at him, blinking occasionally with curious eyes. "You're going to learn a lot of new things about the worlds; this one and the digital one."

Ryo looked up and watched the nurse put the clipboard in the door's compartment. "Your wife is making quite a recovery for her first delivery," the nurse stated, sounding rather surprised.

"That's Rika," Ryo replied, proudly. "I'm sure she can't wait to get out of here."

"At the earliest, she should be released tomorrow morning," the nurse smiled, "And little, Mio-chan, too."

"That's great!" Ryo replied, looking down at Mio. "Did you hear that? You get to go home."

"If you're willing to, you can take her home today," the nurse noted, gesturing to Mio.

"Ah, what with work and everything, I might have to leave her here until Rika is out of here."

"That's reasonable. I just want to remind you, however, that it takes two to care for a child. You won't be able to always count on Rika to take care of Mio. You'll have to do some housework and be committed to being a parent, willing to change diapers and deal with midnight bouts of crying."

"Don't worry. I'll get things settled before Rika and Mio come home."

"That's good to know." The nurse lightly nudged him in the arm. "Just drop her by the nursery when you plan on leaving."

"Okay," Ryo answered, walking down the end of the hallway and sitting next to the window. He propped her up, allowing her to over look the city. "This is our home, the city." He brought her back down and watched her yawn. "A little tired like mommy, huh?"

Ryo, then, distinctly heard rushing footsteps from down the hall. He saw three figures, all of their hairs bouncing as they approached, gliding through randomly dispersed hordes of people. "Digimon! They're here! And new tamers!" all of them echoed.

"What?" Ryo asked incredulously.

"Yeah!"

Amber, Ashley, and Jeri halted in front of Ryo, frightening Mio; she wailed once again.

"Aw, sorry Ryo. I'm sorry, Mio," Ashley whispered.

Ryo lightly swayed her. "It's okay. So, what did you guys say about new tamers?"

"Oh my gosh, Ryo. Don't tell me you don't have your D-arc with you, of all people!" Jeri scolded.

"Okay, then I won't say it," Ryo replied, blinking twice before heading for the nursery to drop Mio off. Jeri followed on one side as Ashley and Amber followed on the other.

Jeri smacked Ryo upside the head. "You of all people, Ryo!"

Ryo turned to Ashley and Amber, rubbing his head, and asked, "Why is she like this?"

"Random digimon have emerged into the Real World. Yamaki and all of the other tamers, PLUS new ones, are at Hypnos headquarters right now, trying to figure it out," Ashley replied. "They want you there."

The three of them secretly stared at Jeri as she babbled on about Ryo not having his D-arc. "Look at what you've started, Ryo…" Amber noted. "She'll never let you live this down…"

"I know."

The four tamers arrived at the nursery, Ryo knocking on the window. The nurse within the nursery walked out, the symphony of the babies muffled after the door closed. Ryo and Mio exchanged eye contact once more before he handed her to the nurse. The young nurse smiled and bowed.

"Thanks a lot. I have some business to attend to, but I'm sure Rika will want to see her later in the day," Ryo said, taking out his sunglasses. "Have a nice day."

Ryo walked away towards the doors, Ashley, Amber, and Jeri not far behind him.

"Hey, when is Rika getting out of here?" Amber asked.

"At the earliest, she'll be out tomorrow morning."

"That's great! Mio, too, then?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah."

"What's with this idle chat?" Jeri raged. "Aren't you _supposed_ to be on your way to headquarters now?"

"Yeah…" Ryo stopped. "But, do they absolutely need me right now? I need to go home and pick up a couple of things, one of which is my D-arc? I mean, I'm still in my night clothes for crying out loud."

"Ryo Akiyama. It's the tamers. You have to be there right now. They won't start without you. You wouldn't want them to wait any longer," Jeri replied.

Ryo blinked. "I'm sorry. Unless you're willing to make the trip to our house—"

"We'll make the trip for you!" Ashley and Amber said simultaneously, both covering Jeri's mouth.

Ryo asked, sliding the sunglasses down the bridge of his nose and giving the three girls a look, "You will?"

Amber and Ashley nodded, holding down Jeri's flailing arms and forcing her head to do the same. "Just tell us what you need and we'll get it."

"Well, that's convenient." Ryo reached down into his pocket and grabbed his ring of keys. He thumbed through the several keys before holding one up and handing it to Jeri's outreached hand. "If you forget which one it is, it's the silver one with the rounded end. Are you really sure about this?"

After struggling to escape Amber and Ashley's grasp, Jeri broke free and said, "Yeah. Of course." She grinned and pushed Ryo toward the automatic sliding glass doors. "Now, you don't want them to wait any longer. What do you need?"

"I'm going to need my D-arc and a change of clothes for work. You know, the white dress shirt, a tie, and a pair of slacks," Ryo replied. "Oh yeah, and I need my briefcase for work. It should be next to the closet door in our bedroom."

"Okay, now go!" Jeri shoved Ryo out the doors, brushing past Ashley and Amber.

"Thanks! I'll see you in a little bit." Ryo took out a separate set of keys and ran out to Henry's van.

Ashley and Amber exchanged glances, waiting for Jeri to turn around. Without even moving, Jeri held the keys up and said, "What are we waiting for?"

"Jeri, are you bipolar?" Ashley asked, with a confused look upon her face.

"I know. What was up with that?" Amber added, crossing her arms.

Jeri whipped around with a rather large grin on her face, her hair swishing in her face before falling into a place. "Didn't you hear? Mio and Rika are coming home. We have to get the house set up for their arrival." Amber and Ashley exchange glances once more before they started laughing. "What are you two laughing about?"

"It's funny because we were planning on doing that anyway," Ashley answered.

Jeri giggled and stopped. "Hey, you were going to tell me, right?"

"Of course, Ms. Bipolar, now let's go. We don't have much time to waste. Besides, Ryo still needs his things," Ashley said, leading the two out of the hospital.

- - -

A stomach growled.

"Jeez, I wish I had grabbed something to eat before I left," Ryo scolded to himself, clutching his stomach.

From the inside of the van as he waited for the street light to change colors, he scoped the area and noticed that the streets were empty. "It was must've been the digimon that just attacked." He spotted the little abandoned restaurant where the tamers had eaten earlier. "I guess that place is out for now."

He looked back up at the street light; it shined a bright red. "There's no one on the streets…and yet it's still making me wait for it to turn green. I don't have time for this."

"AHH!" screamed someone, in the distance. Ryo perked his head up, trying to pinpoint where the scream came from. On an impulse, he jumped out of the van.

In the barren sidewalks, a man clutched his head, as if he were trying to pry something off of his head. Ryo ran over to help the man, running faster when he noticed it was Jason.

"Jason? What happened to you?" Ryo asked, refraining from touching Jason's scarred and bloody arm.

Jason collapsed on the ground as he let out one last shout: "Stop it!"

Ryo's blue eyes watched helplessly, taking a step back, as Jason flailed around on the ground still clutching his head. And then…he stopped.

Ryo kneeled down and grabbed Jason's unscathed arm. "Come on. Get up."

With the help of his other arm and Ryo, Jason stood back up and said, "Thanks, Ryo." He shook his head disheveling his hair.

"What just happened?"

Jason looked up and his red eye gleamed. "Nothing… Look, thanks for caring, but I'm in a hurry. I'll catch ya later, man. At the bar, right?"

"Yeah…"

He staggered passed Ryo and stuck his hands in his pockets.

_Strange. That guy goes through so much more than I do in a year. _Jason's walk stabilized as he hit a couple of light poles with his extended handed. Ryo couldn't remember a time when he was this glum and so distant. _Something's up._

"Hey Ryo!" Ryo turned around and saw Takato and Guilmon running towards him, with Renamon slightly ahead of them, gracefully jumping from light pole to light pole; they all came from the direction of Hypnos. "Did you see a digimon around here?"

"No?" Ryo's face grew more quizzical.

"What? Yamaki told us—" Takato said before interrupted by his cell phone. He looked down at the cell and then said, "Hey Yamaki."

"Good job, you got rid of the anomaly," Ryo heard from the phone.

"We didn't do anything because there's nothing here." Takato looked around. "And, Ryo said he didn't see anything here."

"He was there?" Yamaki asked.

"Yeah, he was. Well, he was here when we got here." Takato looked at Ryo and mouthed, 'No digimon, right?' Ryo nodded. "Yeah."

"That's strange. Okay, come back to Hypnos, and bring Akiyama with you." '_Click'_

"Another digimon appeared around here?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, supposedly. That's what HQ said anyways." Takato put the phone back in his pocket and looked at the digimon who stood there the whole time gazing into the streets. "It looks like a false alarm."

"It seems Hypnos' equipment need a system update. Quite some time has past since D-Reaper and all those digimon emergences," Renamon noted.

Ryo looked in the opposite direction watching Jason's figure disappear at the horizon. _Was that why he was freaking out just now?_ Ryo thought. He looked back at the two digimon and Takato. _Wait, why doesn't he have his D-arc out?_

"Something wrong, Ryo?" Takato asked. Ryo stared down at the golden-rimmed device that hung loosely from Takato's belt loop.

"Well, nothing really. I was just wondering why you didn't use your D-arc to track the digimon." Ryo pointed to the device.

Takato let out a halted laugh. "You see, it's not really working right now. Well, I mean, it is working, occasionally. It's actually a long story so can we walk and talk?" Takato suggested, rubbing the back of his head.

"Or we could just drive there," Ryo said, pointing to the van.

"That, too." Takato laughed.

Takato and Ryo made their ways to the vehicle and jumped in, fastening their seatbelts. The digimon slid the side doors open and got in, their entry shaking the whole van, before it shook again after Guilmon forced the door shut. "So, what's up with the D-arcs? Is it just yours?" Ryo asked, revving up the van. He began to drive straight when a pair of hands covered Ryo's eyes. The brakes were slammed on.

"Okay, Renamon, Guilmon. You can uncover my eyes now." Ryo plainly stated.

"It's neither of us," Renamon said, looking away from the window to Ryo's direction only to find a Bakemon with no mouth as the culprit. "Guilmon…" Renamon asserted.

"Takato, there's a digimon in here."

"What!" Ryo and Takato yelled. "Get it out!"

- - -

The three young ladies walked along the street toward the Akiyama residents. They entered the wooden gates and walked over to the door.

"We just need to clean this place up and set up the baby's room, right?" Ashley asked, while Jeri fumbled with Ryo's keys.

"Yeah, and we have to get the stuff Ryo needs over to Hypnos," Amber answered for Jeri. "Jeri, do you need some help?"

"No, I'm fine…" Jeri snapped, thumbing through the keys again.

"It's the silver one with the rounded end," Ashley assisted.

Jeri's action stopped. "I knew that." She unlocked the door and they entered the house. They slipped off their shoes at the front and walked around the house only to find it spotless. All of the rooms in the house were dusted and vacuumed. In the kitchen, the dishes were done and put away. The three opened the curtains in the living room to let the sun in and then, they just stood there. "Well, looks like the cleaning was already done for us," Ashley noted, as if checking off a checklist.

"We should take Ryo's stuff to Hypnos before we start the baby's room. I kind of feel bad for being a little a pushy on him going to meet the others earlier today," Jeri laughed to herself.

"A little pushy? How about a lot…" Amber clarified. "Here, I'll take Ryo's work stuff, clothes, and D-arc to him. You two can start on the room." Amber left to go find Ryo's briefcase.

Jeri and Ashley went to the other side of the house and entered the room where the baby shower was held only a week ago. Pieces of wrapping paper were still scattered on the floor. Also, the two bags of paper and tags –basically trash- were still left in the corner of the room. "Well, here's one room Ryo didn't touch," Jeri said, picking up one of the bags.

"Maybe he thought he wasn't allowed in here until after the baby was born," Ashley imagined. The two of them laughed.

They headed out the side doors and went around the house to throw the bags out. However, they couldn't believe what they saw inside the trash bin.

Amber carrying Ryo's belongings in a bag looked for Jeri and Ashley, found the two outside. Jeri was halfway inside the bin reaching for something while Ashley watched in disgust and incredulity.

"Jeri, what are you doing? You're supposed to be throwing things away, not taking them back out!" Amber yelled out.

"Amber, you are not going to believe this," Ashley said, glancing at Amber before watching Jeri carefully pull out the mystery object.

"Got it." Jeri pulled out a white dress shirt with a couple of smudged red lipstick imprints around the collar, reeking of trash, perfume, alcohol, and bleach. "Not really Rika's color, is it?"

* * *

DF103: Wow, it has been quite a while. I must say...this was pretty much a dead chapter. But it will be better; just getting back into the groove of things. I'm hoping to update two chapters a month, so that I get this fic done with before I graduate, hopefully. So, there's the fourth chapter (a little shorter than usual) with many more to come. No more slacking off, definitely. So, till next chapter, peace out. 


	5. Something's Not Right

It All Comes Down To This

Chapter 5: Something's Not Right

DF103: OMG! It's another update. Anyway, to reply to your comments, DarkDevil666 and RYOnRIKA-AllDaWay, I got the major Ryuki stuff out of the way through _Little Richard's Intentions for Ryo & Rika_ as you both know so this fic is supposed to concentrate on Ryo and Rika's relationship as a married couple. There will be more Ryuki in later chapters, I swear to my…comics. To the other reviewers (cuz you know I can't forget them), Dolce Saito, DigiQueenTMIM, and GTKari-123, thanks stickin' around. Hope this isn't an inconvenience. Okay, I dun own the show, Amber, Ashley, Tomoyo, and Amanda.

* * *

_Error: USB connection port was unable to reach a signal. Please try again later._

A frustrated sigh sounded, as computer keys tacked hastily, examining eyes glancing at the defunct D-arcs. A series of alert beeps constantly rang from the speakers, a series of messages popping up.

_Error: Connection could not be made._

_Error: USB connection port was unable to reach a signal. Please try again later._

_Error: The program has stopped responding. _

_System error: Please reboot your computer. Any unsaved information maybe lost._

"This is the fourth time this has happened. Why won't it go through?" Henry asked himself, rubbing the back of his head. He got up from his chair and walked over to the next cubicle. "Hey Alice, have you found anything on that virus yet?"

Alice casually sat in front of the computer surfing the Internet; Henry peered over and saw a Digimon fan-page loading on the screen. "I hope that's relevant."

"Of course it is," Alice replied, turning around in her chair. "Well, if you look at what's on this fan-site, you'll understand. Have a look-see." She got up from the chair and pushed it to Henry.

Sitting down, Henry grabbed the mouse and scrolled back up to the page. "Oh, it's the Digimon movie I never got to see—"

"What? You never saw it? Well, then that defeats the purpose of actually showing you this. This movie was based on the infection of the digital field."

"But, Alice, not everything in those old shows relate to what's happening now."

"I had a feeling you would say that. Type in the Hypnos access code after the URL and watch what happens."

Henry glanced up at Alice before typing in the code. The fan-site dissipated by pixels and a row of source codes took its place. They continued to stream in with no sign of stopping. Henry stared into the computer monitor and skimmed through all of the data and found that in between the codes was anomalous information, all directly connecting to the D-Arcs. _Was this because of a mere connection mishap or did the D-Arcs preserve the virus information all along and only time knew when it would awaken from its dormancy? _Henry confusedly looked up at Alice, and she just shrugged. Neither knew exactly.

"I thought you could decipher what it meant. I felt kind of stupefied by these codes. Stupid viruses."

"I think the D-Arcs are somehow connected to this website. That would explain why the D-Arcs are acting funky on us all of a sudden. But to think, this virus was here the whole time on this very website. With a fan-site like this, a virus can spread easily, downloading itself to the visitors' computer and messing it up. How did you know this was the site anyway? There's got to be a million of these sites on the Internet."

"You should know, Henry. Go back." Alice leaned over Henry and moved the mouse, clicking the back button. She read through the text on the fan-site and highlighted "vĩŔǘ$əѕ." She clicked out of the highlighted and it left a white blank spot, before a few seconds later "viruses" appeared in its spot. Highlighting the word again, "viruses" morphed into "Δϊяηšəŧ" and shifted the whole text to right alignment. "Do you get the point?"

"Wow…how long did it take you to find it?" Henry looked up at Alice in amazement and then looked back at the screen. "This would've taken me hours to find."

"I have my ways. Besides, I sit in front of the computer in my office checking out anomalies like these all day with nothing better to do, just Hypnos work. You're lucky you get to have your breaks, lunch with Amber, little things like that."

"But, Yamaki gives you plenty of breaks."

"There are other things that hold me back, now if you'll please excuse me. I have some business to attend to. No hard feelings or anything." Her mouth's corners twitched upward.

Henry got up and tucked the seat into the desk. _She's starting toremind me ofRiley._

- - -

Back on the desolate streets, a van lightly bounced in place in the middle of road, sheer shrieks resounding from its interior. Suddenly, a large spitball of fire flew out of one of the windows, the glass shattering to a million pieces and falling to the ground. Inside the van, Ryo and Takato turned around in their seats and watched the three digimon fight.

"I suggest we take this outside, Guilmon," Renamon noted, disappearing and then materializing outside of the van. With one quick motion, Guilmon opened the van's side door and hopped out; Bakemon followed suit, eventually knocking Guilmon over and floating away from the fight.

The window whirred open and Takato stuck his head out, yelling, "Don't let it get away!"

Renamon whipped around in the direction of the demented digimon, preparing her Diamond Storm, before Bakemon disappeared. Just like that. Renamon stopped dead in her tracks and perked her ears upward. Guilmon's ears twitched also.

"I hear something, Takato," Guilmon stated, looking up at the sky, attempting to oversee past the tall buildings.

Takato looked around also hearing the distant flute-like sound. "I think I've heard this before from somewhere."

"For some reason, I feel the same way," Ryo noted, glancing at the back seats to make sure there were no more random digimon there to attack. The sound abruptly stopped and didn't resume.

Guilmon sniffed the air and hopped back into the van. "There are no more digimon."

"Okay, then let's get to Hypnos, before we get attacked by another one. This is just plain weird," Ryo said, revved up the engine.

"Are you feeling okay, Ryo? I've never seen you so flustered by a digimon, especially anything like a Bakemon." Renamon appeared next to Ryo's window, interrogating him as if she were a police officer. Takato looked over, wondering himself why Ryo had been acting so strange, not just today, but for the past few weeks.

"It's been a while since we've had to deal with wild digimon here. And with Rika having the baby, me having to go in for work and keeping the house in decent condition, along with a bunch of other stuff, I'm just stressed, that's all.

"I see. You understand that Monodramon and I are both there to help with anything, right? We're always watching over you."

"And we're here, too," Takato added. "I mean, sure we have lives, too, but don't hesitate to ask for a little help. We're pretty much family."

Ryo nodded, gratefully. "I'll keep that in mind." He let go of the brakes and looked at Renamon again. "Are you coming?"

"I'm going to go find some clues as to what those three we met today were talking about. I'll meet you back at your house."

"Those three?"

"I'll explain everything on the way there." Takato waved out the window. "See you later, Renamon." She doffed her head, jumped up, and disappeared. "Okay, now let's get to Hypnos."

- - -

Three pairs of eyes bulged out of the three girls' sockets, as Jeri dropped the shirt because of the odor. Amber glanced in the bag of necessities for Ryo and pulled out the exact same shirt. His work shirt was pristine white, wrinkleless and folded neatly. To think, by the end of the night, that pressed shirt would be violated and dirty, by someone other than Rika.

"What the hell has he been doing while Rika was pregnant?" Amber asked, rhetorically. "Oh wait until I see him." Amber threw the shirt back into the bag and stomped toward the gated doors.

Ashley ran after her. "Wait. Don't confront him!"

"Why the hell not?" Jeri asked, behind her.

"I'm all for confrontation, but don't do it in front of everyone. The news might get to Rika."

"So…?" Jeri asked.

"She just had a baby, for crying out loud. Do you want them to split before they even share _their_ lives together with _their_ baby?"

"And we're supposed to keep this a secret until Mio is old enough to realize that her parents are going to split?" Jeri retorted.

"Well, no. We should see if Ryo has an explanation for it. Don't you remember the night before their wedding? Ryo didn't know Kazu and Kenta called for a stripper."

The three of them exchanged contemplative looks.

"Think about it, would Ryo really do this to Rika?" Ashley tried to persuade Jeri, especially.

"I don't know, reeking of alcohol might say something otherwise." Amber walked back over to the dirty shirt and kicked it. "Rika did say something about Ryo's disposition, lately, complaining about how Ryo's mood swings were just as bad as hers and how he came home late from work. You were there, Ashley, when she was explaining it all."

"Yeah, I know…"

"Well, let's think this through," Jeri started, her tone of voice taking a different turn. "We won't confront Ryo, just yet, okay? Instead, we'll roam around the city, tonight and see if Ryo is messing around or doing things he shouldn't be doing."

"We're going to go spying?" Ashley asked. "That—"

"Don't be a wimp…" Amber interrupted.

"I was going to say 'That sounds awesome,'" Ashley replied, with a blank stare. She turned to Jeri. "But, remember? We told Amanda, Sarah, and Tomoyo that we would show them around…"

A good idea struck Jeri's mind. "We'll bring them along with us. It might help us move a lot faster. It's killing two birds with one stone, as you Americans say." Jeri giggled.

"But, we've got to keep a low profile," Ashley added. "Stuff like this will spread like wildfire if it's not looked into."

"Got it. What time and where are we meeting?" Amber asked.

Jeri peered at her watch. _9:36_ "We'll meet in front of this house at 8:00 tonight." She picked up the disgusting shirt and held it over the trash bin. "No one can know about what we're doing, especially Ryo." Amber and Ashley nodded. Jeri dropped the shirt in the bin. "Let's hope Ryo's not fooling around with anyone. Let's go."

Ashley and Amber walked back into the different areas of the house, touching it up here and there. Jeri took out the rest of the trash and closed all the doors to rooms that were already clean. Locking the front door behind them, they're mission had begun.

As the three walked out of gates, one lasting thought stood out in their minds:

_Rika, Mio, we're doing this for you…_

- - -

Regardless of sending her husband out for the excuse of being tired, Rika stared out of her hospital window. She, of all people, knew well of Ryo's mood changes. Since that night she told everyone the great news about her being pregnant, Ryo had been acting strange. Tense, unsure, frustrated. Anything he felt, Rika could feel. Though she could tough it out alone, she needed Ryo, her comforter, her husband, the man she married—but that Ryo seemed to have faded for the while.

_He seems burdened by something…_ Rika thought, but not wanting to think anymore on new thoughts, exhausted and worn out. She closed her eyes and let the memories of her honeymoon play like an old film reel.

_- A Starry Moment- _

"_We missed the sunset, by far, but I hope you don't mind looking up at the stars for a few minutes with me…" Ryo whispered, opening the door and letting Rika out first. _

"_Ryo, sometimes you can sound so corny—Wow…" Rika looked up at the sky and saw an infinite number of stars; they were crowded in the vast sky. The pink data streams moved erratically in the distance. _

"_I asked Yamaki and his crew to make a car-like ark for us, especially for this occasion. The Digital World might seem like a really lame place to have honeymoon and it's kind of—"_

"_I've never seen so many stars in my life." Rika stepped out of the car and looked around the beautiful landscape, not recalling any place such as this in her teenaged years. "I don't need any excuses from you, Ryo," she smirked, "because you've got me. I honestly don't know what to say."_

_Ryo stepped and climbed up on the front of the car and then helped Rika on her way up. "So, do I get a kiss for originality? Surprise factor, maybe?"_

"_I don't know…"_

"_Aww, c'mon.—" Ryo was interrupted, Rika's lips brushing against his before he caressed her cheek, returning the motion.

* * *

_

DF103: I do believe I've made it on the brink of June's end… I've lost all sense of time cuz I haven't slept for more than 3 hours a day since last week and I'm still wide awake. I'll try to update again before I leave for Cali in about a week, I think. Yeah. I've decided to add parts of the honeymoon in this fic, since I've lost total interest in writing a separate fic for it… Hopefully that'll make up for some missed-out Ryuki action. Short chapter this time around. Maybe longer next time. Till next chapter, peace.


	6. Rika

It All Comes Down To This

Chapter 6: Rika

DF103: FILLER... Sorry, a decent chapter, next time (need to reacquaint myself with the story).

Disclaimer: Amber belongs to Dark Raven107; Ashley belongs to DigiQueenTMIM; Tomoyo belongs to Tomoyo Shioda; and Amanda belongs to Pisces Panda. None of us own Digimon. All others belong to DF103.

* * *

I still remembered the day I told Ryo about my pregnancy. I still remembered the look on Ryo's face, how his face lit up almost instantly, as if someone had turned the lights on inside his head. It had been the best night of our lives. It had been the last best-night of our lives, because what came afterwards was utter Hell…well, after the first trimester at least. 

-

_Ryo was out on a business trip for a week, and that's when I had started feeling the nauseating effects of being pregnant. I was too sick to even get up and so I called Jeri to help me get my groceries. I told her my list over the phone and she said she'll be right over. I told her not to rush, but I vaguely remember being slightly annoyed when she wasn't back for two hours and the sun was beginning to set. Then, I was angry when Kazu barged into the house with my groceries._

"_Why isn't Jeri here!" I asked. "She said it was no problem for her to come and help me out." That's when Takato and Kenta walked in with grocery bags, too. Granted, I felt grateful for getting all those for me, but where the hell was Jeri and why were they so late!_

"_I'm sorry, Rika! I'm really sorry!" Jeri yelled out, running into house with a couple of duffle bags._

"_What's going on here?" I had suddenly asked myself, as the house made a racket of noise from Takato, Kenta, and Kazu being in my kitchen and Jeri babbling on about something._

_I just remembered collapsing on the couch after that, feeling nauseated again. And as if it had been the password to shut everything up, the house was once again quiet. _

_Before I knew it, I was asleep and when I had woken up, Kazu was in my face with a bowl of soup or something…looked like miso soup, but I had my doubts. He set it down on the coffee table and just stared at me as I sat up to fill my stomach for two. This had been the first time I had seen Kazu since the night I told everyone I was pregnant, and for once, I didn't want to strangle him…_

"_Rika, how the hell did you get so fat!"_

…_until he said that._

"_I'm PREGNANT, Kazu! Not FAT!"_

_As always, he had that dumbfounded look on his face. He didn't believe me. His eyes told so._

"_I thought you were joking about being pregnant…"_

"_Why you…!" I flung a spoonful of the soup in his face._

_He blinked a couple of times before he got up and walked out of the room, saying, "Hey Jeri, you were right about Rika being angrier than usual!"_

_I just sighed and sipped through the surprisingly delicious soup. Jeri then popped up and sat next to me on the couch. "How are you two?" She lightly patted my belly._

"_Hungry and angry. Do me a favor and keep the stupid ones a room away from me at all times."_

"_Oh, they're leaving soon. They're just cleaning up the kitchen. We made food and put it in the fridge for you so you don't have to worry about starving, okay? And, until Ryo comes back, I'm going to take care of you."_

"_Jeri…" I put the spoon down. "You don't have to do that. Jason will be lonely without you."_

"_Ah, he'll be fine. He's quite tied up with some personal matters anyway."_

"_Are you sure…?"_

"_Sure, I'm sure. Ashley and Amber said they'll be stopping by from time to time also. We're your friends. Of course, we'll come to help you out."_

-

So maybe it hadn't been as bad as I had thought. It brought all the friends I cared about a little closer. But, Ryo, like the actions of a magnet, grew farther and farther apart from me. He decided to work overtime and came home late every night. I was frustrated with him. No. I was more worried about him leaving me, just as my father once did before he came back asking for forgiveness. I continued to think to myself, that if he had done that, he would never have a second chance.

-

_The sliding front door clacked shut and I heard the shoes rustling. I was sitting in the living room waiting for Ryo to come home. Peering at the clock that read '12:30,' I anticipated asking Ryo if we could talk, something we haven't done in a while. We needed the talk._

"_Rika! What are you doing up? It's not good for you and the baby to be up this late," he whispered loudly, walking over to me and giving me a kiss on my forehead._

"_Ryo, we need to talk." I was never the kind of person to say those words, but my heart weighed a ton from all the questions and worries I kept stored. _

"_This couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?" He put his briefcase against the wall in its usual spot and sat next to me. He smelled like alcohol and cigarettes._

_I looked at him, hoping my glare would tell him why. I sighed. _

"_What? If you're just going to glare at me all night, then go to bed and talk to me tomorrow." He stood up._

_I pulled him back down. "Well, first off, where have you been?"_

"_I was out with the guys from work. Yeah, I know I smell. I'll do the laundry when I have time."_

"_That's what I need to talk to you about, and why it couldn't wait until tomorrow—rather this morning. Exactly when do you have time to do anything? You're never home anymore and you haven't been around to talk to."_

"_Well, it's just this overtime. You know that. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"_

"_No, there's more. Why? Is it a crime to want to know what's been going on with my husband?"_

_Ryo looked at me and tried to run his hand through my hair, before I slapped it away. _

"_Wildcat, you're extra feisty tonight. Go to bed. You need your rest."_

-

And that was it…

I never got to ask him why he was out drinking with his work buddies, when he was working overtime, or why he doesn't stick around long enough for me to even ask anything. I've begun questioning myself if saying "I do" was the right thing to do.

But now…

"But, why…

"Why am I beginning to remember these things?

"These flashbacks… My precious memories.

"Is my mind telling me I'm dying?"

I asked these questions aloud to myself, as I stared out the window, the grayish-blue sky beginning to swirl before my eyes. I felt dizzy, and my head was heavy. Was this normal after childbirth?

- - -

"That's impossible…" Tomoyo uttered, frozen before Dolphin, among her other two comrades, Sarah and Amanda. "We're going to be stranded here if we don't get that ark fixed." She grabbed Henry, who unfortunately stood the closest to her, by the shoulders and shook him. "Stranded!" she emphasized.

Henry took the shaking like a rag doll. "Maybe… It… Won't… Be… That… Bad," he replied. Tomoyo stopped and stared at him as if she were imagining the possibilities, before she continued to shake him.

"Ms. Higarashi, please—" Yamaki started, before…

"Stranded!" she yelled out again, as Amanda and Sarah attempted to pry Tomoyo's hands off Henry. Her head lashed around until her line of sight landed on a screened door where she saw a silhouette of a vehicle-like machine. She let go of Henry and side-stepped to the door, while the others talked. Henry, relieved that he was spared, joined in the discussion.

"We might need the ark's creator for help fixing this so is there any phone number that we can use to contact him?" Dolphin asked, patting the damaged ark.

"I don't have it on me. Do you, Amanda?" Sarah replied.

Amanda shook her head. "Tomoyo, do you have—" Tomoyo wasn't anywhere near the two of them, nor the rest of the group.

"She's headed for the—" Tally exclaimed, jumping down from her work seat and pointing to Tomoyo. Everyone's attention was soon directed to the loud yell Tomoyo let out.

"You guys have a spare ark!" Tomoyo slid open the screen doors and revealed a car, with ark-like engines and boosters. "We could just use this."

"Actually…that's for special occasions…" Henry replied, ruffling his hair in frustration, trying to think of a way to explain why it was for special occasions. "Look at the back window."

"Huh?" Tomoyo walked around the car and saw 'Just Married' written on the window, with a few smudges below it. She stared at it for a while before she touched the lettering, and smeared it. "I'm guessing we can't borrow this then."

There was an eerie silence that struck the room. Everyone stared at each other before all of their eyes stopped at Tomoyo. A hand slammed the vehicle. Tomoyo glared at her reflection. "Stranded!" she screamed once more before stomping out of the room to who knew where. Sarah and Amanda followed her out in an attempt to calm her down.

Almost as soon as she left, Ashley and Jeri came running into the room, dragging a confused Takato behind them. Poor Takato looked around and wondered what had befallen him. "You guys didn't have to pull me all the way over here."

"Where's Ryo?" Yamaki asked, obviously more interested in who he thought was the tamers' leader than Takato. "We need to plan out how to deal with these random crossovers, while we figure out how to prevent them from happening."

"Well, if you're looking for Ryo, Amber had to talk to him…" Takato confessed. "I was trying to catch Ryo up on everything, but Amber and these two, came running up to the van at a stop light and nabbed him."

Ashley kicked the back of Takato's leg. Yamaki turned around and shook his head. "Well, I suppose we'll have to make do with our own investigations. I suggest all of you just enjoy the peace while you can. It's hard to determine when we'll be able to get out of a bind like this. We'll contact you if we find any relevant information."

The tamers all stood at attention and called out a unison "Yes, sir," and slowly dispersed out of the room.

Takato rubbed the back of his leg with his other foot and nudged Ashley. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Amber obviously wanted to talk to Ryo about whatever, and didn't want anybody else to be concerned about it. You shouldn't have brought it up."

"Sorry." Takato drooped his head.

"It's okay. I forgive you." Ashley laughed, walking into Takato and laying her head on his shoulder. Suddenly, Henry called out, "Takato! Can I talk to you for a second?" from the doorway. Takato turned around and gave Ashley another apologetic look. He ran up to Henry, as Jeri and Ashley stopped at the doorway.

"Takato, have you noticed that Ryo's been acting kind of strange lately?" Henry asked in a hush tone.

"Well, he's got a lot of things running around in his head."

"I can understand that, but the last time I talked to Rika, she told me that he's not home that much."

"Really? He didn't mention that to me."

"Yeah, he's apparently coming home late and there isn't much communication between the two of them." Henry sighed. "I just hope everything starts working out, now that Mio's born." He leaned back on a desk and started rubbing his chin, his eyes fixed into space.

"So..." Takato began, sensing an idea from Henry. "What are we going to do to help them this time?" he asked.

"Let's follow him tomorrow night. See what he's doing."

"Are you serious?" Takato exclaimed, before he realized that the girls were still waiting at the doorway. He waved at them and mouthed, "I'll catch up with you later."

Ashley and Jeri nodded, and headed out. As they walked out, they saw the three newcomers at the end of the hallway, standing against the windows of the building and staring out into the city. The two could see in their eyes that these foreigners were itching to explore the city. It was then that Jeri's eyes shined a familiar sparkle, as she remembered their plan.

"Ashley, when Amber comes around, let's take these guys around Shinjuku and, you know, spy on you-know-who," Jeri whispered.

Ashley gave a thumbs-up. "Sounds like a plan." She looked outside the window as well. "I'll call Amber and let her know. She should be done with her talk now, right?"

* * *

DF103: Okay, here's the deal. Yes, this was a crappy chapter. Yes, I'm writing the next TWO chapters now. Yes, they'll be out before I get back on campus in September. Discrepancies? Let me know. Till next chapter, peace. 


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